Longhorn Women Come Out On Top Against In-State Rival Texas A&M

Arkansas won 14 of 16 events in their decisive victory over Houston on Friday, January 18th. Peyton Palsha, Anna Hopkin, Vanessa Herrmann, and diver Brooke Schultz led the way for the Razorbacks, each picking up multiple individual wins.

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State Cyclones (6-3, 1-0 Big 12) soundly defeated the Illinois State Redbirds (5-3, 1-1 MVC) 191-100 on Friday night. The Cyclones won 15-of-16 events in the win, the most events wins in a meet since 2016.

MEET FACTS

The Texas Longhorn women hosted in-state rival Texas A&M on Thursday, as both teams looked to remain undefeated for the season. The Aggies had already taken out both Incarnate Word and South Carolina this year, while the Longhorns came out on top against both Florida and Indiana in their tri-meet two weeks ago.

Texas dominated throughout, winning the first nine events and ultimately taking 14 of 16 for the easy win 166.5-128.5 (though results show Texas A&M winning the last two events, because the meet was already clinched at that point).

Leading the way for Texas was Joanna Evans, Madisyn Cox and Rebecca Millard, who each picked up multiple individual victories. Evans came out on top in the 500 free (4:46.86) and 1000 free (9:52.34), Cox took the 200 free (1:45.96), 200 breast (2:11.04) and 200 IM (1:57.03), and Millard took the top spot in both sprint freestyles, clocking 22.63 and 49.35 in the 50 and 100 respectively. Cox’s 200 IM victory wasn’t scored as the meet was already clinched.

Other winners for Texas were Tasija Karosasin the 100 back (53.70), Olivia Andersonin the 100 breast (1:01.38), Remedy Rulein the 200 fly (1:56.70), and divers Meghan O’Brien and Alison Gibson in the 1-meter and 3-meter events.

Lisa Brattonand Beryl Gastaldello were the lone bright spots for Texas A&M, earning the team’s two individual wins. Bratton snagged the 200 back win in 1:55.82 just out-touching Karosas of Texas (1:55.96), and Gastaldello just got by Remedy Rule to win the 100 fly 53.70 to 53.82.

Other strong results came from juniors Bethany Galat, Franko Jonkerand Jorie Caneta. Galat took 2nd in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 100 fly, while Caneta and Jonker took 2nd and third in the 100 breast.

Texas also dominated the relays taking the 200 medley to start off the meet in 1:39.02 with Karosas, Cox, Millard and Brynne Wong, and finishing it off with a win in the 200 free in 1:31.57 courtesy of Rule, Millard, Brooke Hansenand Claire Adams.

Texas takes on NC State on Friday, and Texas A&M hosts Florida on Saturday.

PRESS RELEASES

“I’m really pleased with the way we swam today,” said fifth-year UT head coach Carol Capitani. “I think it’s a testament to how hard we are working right now. We’re paying attention to little details, and for the most part, we’re doing those little things right. We won some close races today, and that makes us really happy. It’s a source of pride, and we did this one for the Longhorns fans. It’s nice to be on the winning side of the coin.”

Sophomore Joanna Evans, who represented The Bahamas at the Rio Olympics, led from start-to-finish in the 1,000 freestyle and was victorious at 9:52.34. Cox led a one-two Texas finish atop the 200 freestyle and claimed the victory with a NCAA “B” cut of 1:45.96 while sophomore Nora McCullaghtook second at 1:47.88.

Karosas paced a one-two Longhorns showing in the 100 backstroke, where she edged UT freshman Claire Adams at 53.70. Karosas’ mark and Adams’ time of 53.73 were good for NCAA provisional-qualifying cuts. Sophomore Olivia Anderson added an NCAA provisional cut and another win for the Longhorns with her mark of 1:01.38 in the 100 breaststroke.

Sophomore Remedy Rule led wire-to-wire in the 200 butterfly and notched the Horns’ sixth consecutive win of the meet at 1:56.70, well under the NCAA “B” cut of 1:59.59. Millard edged A&M’s Beryl Gastaldello by one one-hundredth of a second in the 50 freestyle and took the win at 22.63.

Freshman Alison Gibson opened the diving events with a winning mark of 348.90 points in the three-meter event. Sophomore Meghan O’Brien later completed a Texas sweep of the diving events with her winning mark of 306.60 on one-meter.

Millard returned after a short layoff following three-meter diving to sweep the sprint freestyle events and win the 100 freestyle at 49.35. McCullagh took second at 49.82 while sophomore Brooke Hansen placed third at 50.74.

The Aggies scored a tight win in the 200 backstroke, but Cox notched her second win of the day in the ensuing event and captured the 200 breaststroke at 2:11.04. Evans followed suit and posted her second victory of the afternoon, as she claimed the 500 freestyle at 4:46.86.

Cox put away her third win in as many events, as she cruised to victory in the 200 individual medley at 1:57.03. Texas wrapped the meet with a win in the 200 freestyle relay where Rule, Millard, Hansen and Adams were victorious in 1:31.57.

Texas closes the week Friday with a challenge from No. 4 N.C. State. The Texas men and women host the Wolfpack at 5 p.m. CT at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

Texas A&M

AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 14 Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team dropped a 166.5-128.5 decision to No. 7 Texas on Thursday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on the University of Texas campus.

The Aggies, who fell to 2-1 in dual meet action, tallied first- or second-place finishes in 15 of 16 events, but couldn’t catch the quick-starting Longhorns. The Longhorn victory evens the series at 2-2 since the rivalry was resumed in 2013-14.

“We swam really well, but they were better tonight,” Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. “We’re not happy with the score but I’m very happy with the way we swam. We had a lot of season-best swims and I’m very encouraged by the way we raced for this point in the season. We have a lot of places we still need to get better, but we can only control what we’re doing and I’m happy with where we are in our training.”

Grabbing first-place finishes for the Aggies were juniors Lisa Bratton and Béryl Gastaldello, who touched first in the 200-yard backstroke and the 100 butterfly, respectively. Bratton reached the wall in 1:55.82, while Gastaldello finished in 53.70.

Texas A&M grabbed two of the top three spots in five individual races. Junior Bethany Galat was third in the 100 fly (54.55) behind Gastaldello, and she also led a 2-3 Aggie finish (2:00.56) with Bratton (2:00.93) in the 200 IM. Juniors Jorie Caneta (1:01.63) and Franko Jonker (1:01.68) placed second and third in the 100 breaststroke, Gastadello (22.64) and redshirt freshman Raena Eldridge (23.33) finished second and third in the 50 free and senior Ashley McGregor (2:12.97) led a 2-3-4 finish in the 200 breast with Jonker (2:14.22) and sophomore Sydney Pickrem (2:15.01) right behind.

The Aggies were second in both relays with the foursome of Bratton, Caneta, Eldridge and sophomore Lexie Luptonreaching the wall in 1:40.69 in the 200 medley relay and the group of Gastaldello, Gibson, Lupton and Eldridge finishing in 1:32.16 in the 200 free relay.

The Aggies return to action on Saturday when the Texas A&M men’s and women’s teams host Florida in a 2 p.m. dual meet at the Student Recreation Natatorium on the Texas A&M campus.

About James Sutherland

James formerly competed for the Laurentian Voyageurs in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in February of 2018, placing 11th at the OUA Championships in the 200 IM, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics in May. He …